Free Vs. Commercially Supported Anti-Virus

We consistently get the question from small business owners & others: “Why should I pay for anti-virus/anti-malware if I can get it for free?” Well now! Free, how can you beat that?!? In simple non-technical terms it boils down to how effective your anti-malware suite will be at protecting you. There are several unbiased 3 party testing labs (Virus BulletinAV-ComparativesAv-Test, ICSA Labs) and they come to a consistent consensus on this issue. Generally, I recommend that companies invest in a quality, commercially supported anti-malware suite as part of a coordinated defense in depth focused security strategy.

Commercially Supported Anti-Malware is More Effective

Paid anti-virus/anti-malware solutions are generally much for effective on the broad range of threats your organization faces. Security threats go far beyond traditional viruses to the whole class of malware such as trojans, rootkits, remote access toolkits, worms, etc. Free solutions don’t address the full depth and breath of these threats.

Ever Evolving Malware

Cybercriminals have a strong and often singular motive – profit. They use malware to profit to the tune of billions of dollars a year. Malware development has all the trapping of professional software development – so we can expect that the malware itself will continue to adapt to our attempts to detect and disable it. Don’t expect this to change but rather expect the ever present evolution of these devious technologies. That said, it makes sense to go with commercial solution which has its development efforts on the pulse of these threats.

There is NO Cure-all

Anti-malware suites are in no way a panacea for security concerns but a important part of a larger security picture. I.e. simply having an anti-virus solution doesn’t shield you from security threats but it does lessen and potentially control your risk.

In conclusion, investing in an anti-malware suite is a smart choice. It is one that I & others in the security space emphatically recommend you have as a component of your IT efforts.

Joseph P. Guarino has a long history of producing business results with the application of information technology. Joseph's expertise span over 15 years in the private sector at leading technology firms and consulting organization. With Evolutionary IT, he saw a market need to bring his transformative knowledge and expertise to firms in the New England area and worldwide. Joseph is driven by a strong desire to see customer's thrive with the best business solutions. Evolutionary IT evolved out of this desire to bring a new level of quality IT solutions, align them with business goals and give customer's a competitive edge.